News and Notes from the Rodeo Trail, Aug. 31
by ProRodeo.com | Aug 31, 2015
The Wrangler Network will be providing live coverage of the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo and Xtreme Bulls Tour finale Sept. 5-7 at www.wranglernetwork.com. The Xtreme Bulls finale will air Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. (PT), and coverage of the Sept. 6-7 performances of the Ellensburg Rodeo will begin both days at 11:45 a.m. (PT).
Steve Kenyon of ProRodeo Live will be broadcasting the short round from Ellensburg Sept. 7, with coverage starting at 11:45 a.m. (PT). He will also be simulcasting all three days of the Walla Walla (Wash.) Frontier Days (Sept. 4-6) with coverage starting at 7 p.m. (PT) each night on www.prorodeolive.com.
Evan Jayne
There were several big-name cowboys to suffer injuries over the weekend. Current bareback riding world standings leader Evan Jayne has a sprained left (free arm) shoulder in Kennewick, but doesn’t expect to miss any time and will compete through the pain. Fellow bareback rider Wes Stevenson suffered the same injury as Jayne – to his left (free arm) shoulder. The nine-time WNFR qualifier’s status for upcoming rodeos is questionable. He sat 45th in the Aug. 31 world standings. WNFR steer wrestler Beau Clark suffered a complete tear of the pectoralis major muscle on the right side of his chest during his run at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Aug. 22 and has surgery scheduled for Sept. 1 in Bozeman, Mont. It’s a tough break for Clark, who sat 17th in the Aug. 31 world standings, and will miss the last month of the 2015 season, plus the first several months of the 2016 season. WNFR saddle bronc rider Tyler Corrington suffered a fractured lower left leg in Okotoks, Alberta, which will require surgery. The Hastings, Minn., cowboy sat 30th in the Aug. 31 world standings.
Online voting for the 2015 WNFR National Anthem contest begins Sept. 1 at noon (PT). The first round of voting will narrow the possible singers to the top 10. From there, a committee will trim the list to the top three and final voting will commence Sept. 24 to determine the winners in the open, rodeo committee and youth categories.Fans can vote at www.nfrsocialarena.com/national_anthem.
Officials for the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center aren’t sure the project will be ready in time for the 2016 Umatilla County Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo. This year’s fair and rodeo was billed as the last at the current fairgrounds, and in June the official report from the company managing the project, Frew Development, was that everything was on schedule to be ready in March of 2016. Progress is being made, but not as quickly as initially expected. While everyone involved is optimistic that the new arena will be ready for the 2016 rodeo, 2017 now appears to be a possibility.
Korkow Rodeo’s bull Bad Habit has officially retired from competition and been put out to stud on the Warne Cattle Company Ranch in Onida, S.D. The bull was a four-time WNFR qualifier and one of the hardest bulls to stay on during the last four years – The Sioux City Journal reported that the bull was 98-2 in his career. The only two men to successfully ride Bad Habit were Cody Campbell (Ellensburg, Wash., Xtreme Bulls Finale in 2014) and 2014 World Champion Sage Kimzey, who rode the bull at the 2014 WNFR. Bad Habit’s last ride was at the end of June in Dickinson, N.D.
Five Southern California PRCA sanctioned rodeos have announced the creation of the So-Cal Roughstock Series. Beginning with the 2016 season, roughstock contestants who ride in all five rodeos will be eligible for bonus money at the end of the season. Contestants will be awarded points depending on how they place in each of the rodeos. The aggregate leader at the end of the season in each of the three roughstock events will win $3,000. Second place pays $1,000, and third place $500. Participants must compete in all five rodeos to be eligible for prize money and all PRCA card and permit holders are eligible to participate. Participating rodeos for the 2016 season are the San Dimas Western Days Rodeo (Oct. 3-4, 2015), Industry Hills Charity Pro Rodeo (Oct. 10-11, 2015), Norco Mounted Posse Rodeo (Aug. 19-21, 2016), Poway Rodeo (Sept. 23-24, 2016) and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Rodeo (Sept. 23-25, 2016).
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A little revenge, you might say. My travel partners (Zeb Lanham and Garrett Smith) were giving me crap this week. They wanted to ride him.”
-Bull rider Dallee Mason telling the Tri-City Herald about his 86-point ride on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Snap to split first at the Horse Heaven Round-Up in Kennewick, Wash. Mason – who moved to 25th in the world standings – was bucked off the bull during their first meeting last year in Cheney, Wash.
Courtesy of PRCA